While I agree that "riding in a circle smaller than the wheel is" is probably a very good definition of a well-done spin, the USA definition, is somewhat less restrictive as to how small the circle has to be. The USA rulebook says: "Spins must be performed within a 1 m circle, around a fixed point (no wandering spins). In a spin the rider must perform five (5) full rotations. The rider must maintain pedal rotation during spins (no pirouettes)." While that may do for passing the skill levels, if you actually want to do a visually attractive spin in a performance, you should tighten it up to a lot smaller than a meter.

pretty interesting idea. mine is about 59, I can do all the skills in levels 1-5 and all the skills in level 6 except for frontspin and spin. and I can glide, unispin, one footed wheelwalk, seat drag in front, and maybe a couple other level 6+ skills....

EDIT oh, I see how it works now, make that I have mastered 59/97 skills, and I have a score of 292/603.

On Thu, 31 Mar 2005 23:19:42 -0600, "saam" wrote:
>> well, maybe there could be two catagories
>>
>> 1. your rating abiding to the official rules (you would write your
>> rating with an O after it)
>> 2. is you rating not abiding to the official rules (you write you
>> rating with an UO after it)
>>
>> my ratings are:
>> 76/603 UO
>> 69/603 O

Number 1 doesn't work out right. The official rules that you are
referring to, say that you can only have one retry per set of skills
for a particular level. That implies that you have to demonstrate that
you qualify for all the skills in one level, or you fail all of them.
Therefore, in the "official rules" version of the NKS, there would be
only ten possibilities, i.e.:

Notice that '69/603' isn't one of them. I think that people generally
assume that if you have done a skill, that's good enough to check it.
I think that that is what most people find attractive in the NKS. In
other words, the UO version is fine. The O version, if you abide to
ALL official rules, is just the old skills system in disguise. If you
would respect only SOME rules, you must be more specific. But I don't
think we need the O version at all.

As to O vs. UO, I recommend a somewhat official system. That is, you obey all the rules about individual skills, including such fine points as transitions, going the full distance, doing five full revs for a spin in a 1-meter radius, and doing three full revs in place for the pirouette. For instance, when I gave my first NKS rating, I did not include seat in front one-footed riding, because I had not yet done it properly, that is ten meters, with transitions, and holding the seat so that neither the seat nor my arms from the elbows down touched my body, as is required. (I have since gotten it. My rating is now 568, but that's beside the point.)

My reason for suggesting this is that otherwise the NKS rating is almost meaningless. If I dropped all the regulations, especially the ones about transitions, and the full ten meters and full 5/3 revs for spins/pirouettes, I could give myself the same rating as Leo: everything minus the backward pirouette, even though I can only side ride two revs on a good day and I'm still a long ways from a proper pirouette and backward spin. Conceivably, if I ignored the official rules completely, including those about not holding onto anything to do the skills, I could even do the backward pirouette, simply by riding up to something backward on a slippery surface, grabbing hold of the object, and twisting myself around very slowly three revs. (assuming I was following the three rev rule.) I could even ignore definitions of the skills completely, and say that backward riding was equivalent to sideways wheel walk. After all, it would be unofficial.

So basically, your NKS rating is meaningless unless you follow the official rules for how to do the skills very closely, or at lest indicate to what extent you depart from the rules. Official rules help make this a unicycling community, where we can discuss skills, and understand what others mean by them.

Originally posted by Klaas Bil
Notice that '69/603' isn't one of them. I think that people generally assume that if you have done a skill, that's good enough to check it. I think that that is what most people find attractive in the NKS. In other words, the UO version is fine. The O version, if you abide to ALL official rules, is just the old skills system in disguise. If you would respect only SOME rules, you must be more specific. But I don't think we need the O version at all.

I've been basing my score on being able to do a skill well enough that I could reliably pass the official level. That means that I have to be able to do the skill properly and with the transitions and be able to do it reliably enough that wouldn't mess it up during a level test. That means that I have to be able to do the skill correctly and cleanly the vast majority of the time (say 90% or better).

I've done the backwards seat out back for 10 meters successfully a couple of times. But I still mess it up way way more times than I get it right. I don't consider it to be a skill that I could count on the NKS system and it's not a skill that I have counted even though I have successfully done the skill.

Oh, I also made a slight update to my spreadsheet. It now totals the number of skills. There's 97 skills in the list. The download is here: nks_unicycle_skills_rating.zip

Originally posted by Klaas Bil On Thu, 31 Mar 2005 23:19:42 -0600, "saam" wrote:
>> well, maybe there could be two catagories
>>
>> 1. your rating abiding to the official rules (you would write your
>> rating with an O after it)
>> 2. is you rating not abiding to the official rules (you write you
>> rating with an UO after it)
>>
>> my ratings are:
>> 76/603 UO
>> 69/603 O

Number 1 doesn't work out right. The official rules that you are
referring to, say that you can only have one retry per set of skills
for a particular level. That implies that you have to demonstrate that
you qualify for all the skills in one level, or you fail all of them.
Therefore, in the "official rules" version of the NKS, there would be
only ten possibilities, i.e.:

Notice that '69/603' isn't one of them. I think that people generally
assume that if you have done a skill, that's good enough to check it.
I think that that is what most people find attractive in the NKS. In
other words, the UO version is fine. The O version, if you abide to
ALL official rules, is just the old skills system in disguise. If you
would respect only SOME rules, you must be more specific. But I don't
think we need the O version at all.

sorry for the miss under standing i ment abiding to the part of the rules that reads:
"All skills start and end with the rider riding forward, seated with both feet on the pedals. All mounts end with the rider riding forward with both feet on the pedals. "
not the failing part, OK